Guernsey Water suspends seafront work this Saturday after retail concerns

In recognition of access difficulties affecting retailers along St George's Esplanade, Guernsey Water will suspend its work all day on Saturday (17 December).

This suspension is in addition to that already planned ahead of this evening's late night shopping in town.

Although the utility will not be able to completely vacate the site the road will be fully opened and most parking spaces will be available with parking bay restrictions and time limits for parking temporarily changed.

This phase of the work is due to be completed by the end of Sunday 18 December.  During this time Guernsey Water will endeavour to keep traffic flowing using manned traffic management.

Wherever possible it will also try to stop work early, avoiding peak traffic times.

Mark Walker, capital delivery manager at Guernsey Water said:  "We fully appreciate that this is one of the busiest times of the year for retailers. 

"We are very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience and hope these measures show that we are listening to our customers and working with them to help ensure they are not only open for business, but can also be accessed by their customers.

"The work on La Piette combined sewer outfall (CSO) is urgent and vital if we are to provide effective drainage in the area and reduce the risk of sewer flooding to properties nearby and pollution on the foreshore.

"Unfortunately the outfall is in a very poor state of repair and symptomatic of the major investment needed in our island's wastewater infrastructure.

The work is at an early stage with cleaning, investigatory and CCTV survey work being attempted. Once these investigations have been completed Guernsey Water expects that more major work will be required on the physical structure of the outfall to bring it back to an acceptable condition and secure its long term effectiveness. Guernsey water is committed to working closely with customers that could be affected to minimise the implications for them.

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